Smart Cities

The term “connected world” immediately sets some lofty expectations. If you’ve never heard it before, it sounds as ambitious as it does vague. But once you start down the rabbit hole of understanding, you’ll find yourself dealing with some truly heady concepts. We’re no longer talking about personal computers or even the ubiquitous mobile devices […]

First, there were smartphones and then smart houses. Now, the next disruptive “smart” move is the smart city. As work, life, and society become increasingly connected through the wide adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, it’s a natural progression to build smart cities that leverage tech to provide benefits like convenience and efficiency. […]

Tech experts knew it was a long time coming: The interest in smart homes gave way to a desire for smart cities, and the U.S. is running into smart city development full force. A whopping 66 percent of U.S. cities indicated in 2017 that they were investing in smart technology — and 25 percent of […]

What’s the State of Responsible IoT in 2018? After years of concerning news about connected devices that were hacked, bricked, or used to spy on users, a collection of essays by the experts in the ThingsCon network explores where we stand in terms of creating IoT devices that are responsibly made and respect user rights. […]

Latin America’s tech-savvy workforce has attracted international companies to maintain support offices in the region for years. However, the recent government commitment to develop innovation hubs, coupled with a growing middle class that lead in the adoption of mobile devices, has made Latin America prime territory for global tech companies to target local consumers. More […]

The smart city began as a science fiction dream, but it’s very quickly becoming a reality. Municipal infrastructure, integrated with smart technology, will transform the aesthetics, utility, and sustainability of urban landscapes from here on out. To see a smart city in action, just look to Washington, D.C., which has embraced a top-down approach to […]

Smart cities can add value not just through money saved by efficient operations but also through the added benefits for citizens and local businesses by adding great design. Let’s change the design — and build a city. The key to building truly “smart” and efficient cities of the future is improving not just infrastructure — […]

Lutron Electronics has added its Caséta Wireless system to the growing list of devices that support Amazon Alexa range, which includes the Echo, Dot, Tap, and Fire TV. The Caséta Wireless system features various connected LED lights that can change color or brightness on demand. The integration of Alexa allows users to change the lights […]

Ofgem, the U.K. government’s regulator for gas and electricity, has revealed that projects trialled under the Low Carbon Networks Fund (LCNF) could save 215 tonnes of CO2. The program ran for six years, ending in 2015, with the aim of helping Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) develop cost effective and energy efficient solutions for the smart […]

The Internet of Things is sweeping across the globe at breakneck speeds, and before we know it, our entire lives will be facilitated by connected technology. We’re already seeing the IoT make an incredible impact on how the industrial world operates, and we’re seeing it seep into household goods to bring convenience and efficiency to […]

When it comes to smart city innovation, it’s arguable that most use cases are not that exciting to the average resident. A connected garbage bin, traffic light or parking meter is not going to cause applause and adoration for city officials at least in the first instance. But as more and more local systems start to […]

Scotland’s seven major cities are teaming up to develop a number of smart city projects, backed by a $31 million war chest. According to Scottish Construction Now, the seven cities will springboard off the funding to collaboratively develop themselves into future-capable digital hubs. See also: Outdated thinking on wireless could doom UK smart cities The […]

Studies of traffic congestion regularly point much blame at cars circling for parking. To tackle this perennial problem, Get My Parking is joining a smart city initiative to launch a smart parking pilot in India. As reported in Firstpost, the Delhi-based startup’s technology is being tested in government smart city initiatives. “We are getting a […]

Recently leaders from technology and the multifamily gathered in Tampa, Florida for an event called “Building Cities of the Future”, A CRE and Urbantech Summit. Tampa is already on its journey to becoming a smarter city, and thus was the perfect setting for this event. The one day event was designed to bring together executives […]

Domino’s and Ford have partnered to test a self-driving pizza delivery service to customers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The partnership will be part of Ford’s research into how customers respond and interact with self-driving vehicles. Randomly selected customers will have the option of trying the self-driving delivery service, according to The Verge. An engineer will […]

One of the biggest causes of downtime and data loss comes not from hackers or other nefarious activities, but from massive power blackouts that are caused by faulty equipment or machine “downtime”. In fact, loss of power leads as the top IT related disaster most organizations face. San Francisco’s massive April power outage, for example, brought […]

The promise of continued innovation hangs on our ability to make data freely accessible to the people and teams who are driving towards the future. Companies everywhere are disrupting their own industries with mobile, agile, DevOps, and of course the cloud. But this is the Information Age and the Digital Economy and those same people, […]

The IoT and coworking spaces have a lot in common. Both need to strike a careful balance between forging accessible yet secure connections to engage with and protect their growing communities. It’s a tough call. Lucas Seyhun, co-founder at The Farm Coworking, said: “While we work with some of New York’s leading technical startups, we […]

In an announcement timed with this year’s MWC Americas, the city of Atlanta is receiving an Internet of Things (IoT) boost, in the form of a sensor-enabled data network that monitors traffic, parking, and pedestrian movement. AT&T, Current by GE, and Georgia Power have collaborated to fit 200 LED streetlights in the North Ave. Corridor, Buckhead […]

Over the past few years, I’ve had the pleasure of spending significant time on the ground in China for ReadWrite and ReadWrite Labs. While here in China, I’m continuously discovering new opportunities that exist and even more reasons for foreign startups and corporations to consider getting started in China. However entering a new market can […]